Apparatus for deflecting sheet like material

ABSTRACT

The disclosure of this invention relates to a sheet deflecting arrangement as employed, for example, in a shearing line for rolled metal sheets. The deflector comprises an endless entry conveyor belt for transporting succeeding sheets away from the shear and to one of two different paths of travel. A diverter roll is arranged to engage the non-sheet supporting side of the belt to cause the belt to be displaced into a raised position to deflect the sheets to an upper path of travel and to be displaced to a lower position where the sheets can be fed to a lower path of travel.

d a United States Patent 1191 1111 3,820,775 Miller June 28, 1974 [5 APPARATUS FOR DEFLECTING 3,430,951 3/1969 Hulka et al. 271/64 SHEE'ILLIKE MATERIAL 3,724,657 4/ 1973 Katagiri et al. 27l/64 [75] Inventor: Paul W. Miller, Warren, Ohio Primary Examiner Evon Bhmk 731 Assignee: Wean United, Inc Pittsburgh, Pa. Assistant EmminerJames Miller Attorney, Agent, or FirmHenry C. Westin; Danlel [22] F1led: Oct. 12, 1972 Patch, [21] Appl. No.: 297,117

ABSTRACT The disclosure of this invention relates to a sheet dei fleeting arrangement as employed, for example, in a [58] Fieid 271mm 64 76 193 shearing line for rolled metal sheets. The deflector comprises an endless entry conveyor belt for transporting succeeding sheets away from the shear and to [56] References Cited one of two different paths of travel. A diverter roll is UNITED STATES PATENTS arranged to engage the non-sheet supporting side of 2,478,610 8/1949 Uschmann et al. 271/64 X the belt to cause the belt to be displaced into a raised 2,527,9ll 10/1950 BUCClOflC 271/63 A position to deflect the heets to an u per path of g i 2 travel and to be displaced to a lower position where err1 Q a. 3,224,758 12/1965 Siempelkamp 271/64 the Sheets can be fed to a lower path of travel 3,417,989 12/1968 Haselow et al. 271/64 4 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure APPARATUS FOR DEFLECTING SHEET-LIKE MATERIAL In the past in the metal sheet producing industry the deflection of sheets was performed by employing a movable deflector gate which was arranged between the two different paths to which the sheets were to be deflected. Such gates not only, from the standpoint of initial cost, but from operational and maintenance standpoint s, have been found very objectionable.

It is, therefore, the object of the present invention to' eliminate'the deflector gate entirely and provide instead a very simple, inexpensive and trouble-free deflecting arrangement for sheetlike material.

It is a further object of this invention to provide in a sheet conveying apparatus a first conveyor having a portion arranged in a common path of travel and a portion arranged in one of two different paths of travel,

a second conveyor arranged in the other of said different paths of travel above said one different path of travel,

means arranged to engage the non-sheet engaging side of said first conveyor at a point on the entry side of said two different paths of travel, and means for displacing said first means in a direction towards and away from said other path of travel in a manner to raise and lower the engaged portion of said first conveyor to cause said sheets to be directed towards one or the'other of said two different paths of travel.

These objects as well as other novel features and advantages of the present invention will be better understood when the following description is read along with the accompanying drawing which comprises an elevational view of a sheet deflector for deflecting carbon steel sheets constructedin accordance with the present invention.

In referring to the drawing there is illustrated the portion of a sheet shearing line immediately after the flying shear and before the sheet piling stations, the shear and piling stations not being shown since they form no part of the invention. The portion illustrated includes an ,entry conveyor belt 8 which may reach in length up to 65 ft. While the left and right ends of the belt are shown broken away, it will be appreciated that the conveyor takes the form of an endless rubberized fiber belt of the type customarily employed for transporting sheared steel sheets. Because of the well-known construction of the belt its end supporting rolls l and the drive for the belt have not been completely shown. The speed of the belt will be somewhat greater than the speed of the shear which may range from 350 to 1,200 feet per minme. While there are several well-known belt suppliers, a preferred type would be that furnished by the A. .I. Sparks & Company of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Belt Type 515N Special.

The continuous belt 8 passes over a diverter roll 11 arranged to engage substantially the entire underneath surface of the belt from where the belt follows a downward pathof travel indicated by the legend DOWN PASS in the drawing. To the left of the drawing the leg end SHEET TRAVEL indicates the entry path of travel coming from the shear.

To the right and overlapping a portion of the belt 8, there is arranged a second endless belt 14 similar in construction to the belt 8 and in which connection one of the end supporting and driving rolls 16 is shown.

This belt 14, it will be noted, diverges away from the belt 8, in which its path of travel is legended UP PASS.

Returning to the diverter roll 11, it is rotatably supported by a pair of parallel generally horizontally extending arms 18, the arms extending away from the roll 11 to the left where it is pivotally carried by spacedapart brackets 20 between which the belt 8 and its supported sheets are allowed to pass. The brackets themselves are supported by a subframe 22.

The diverter roll 11 is displaceable vertically by virtue of a toggle link 24, the lower link of which is pivotally supported at 26. The toggle link 24 is extended and collapsed by a piston cylinder 28, pivotally carried by the sub-base 22. As will be explained more fully later on, the stroke of the cylinder assembly 28 is sufficient to raise the roll 11 and, hence, the engaged portion of the belt 8 to the full line position shown in the drawing and lower it to the phantom line position where the belt 8 assumes a path of travel defined. by a much larger radius than the position the belt assumes when the roll 1 1 is in its upper position.

In addition to supporting the roll 11, the arms 18 also carry two rows of permanent magnets 30 arranged on the entry side of the roll 11 and closely adjacent thereto. Two rows of electromagnets 34 separately supported are arranged closely adjacent to the delivery side of the roll 11 which are controlled by a common control unit 36. A third row of magnets, permanent magnets 38, are provided for the conveyor belt 14 according to usual practice. Immediately in front of the roll 16 of the conveyor belt 14, there is arranged a belt protector 40 having an upper inclined sheet supporting surface 42.

The drawing also illustrates the minimum length sheet S arranged to be deflected to the UP PASS path of travel, in which regard it will be noted that the space between the roll 11 and the adjacent portion of belt 14 allows both ends of the minimum sheet to be supported at the same time and that the lowermost edge of the protector 40 is arranged close enough to the roll 11 so that considering the inherent stiffness of a sheet, its leading end will carry over to the leading end of the belt 14. The sheets, in the particular arrange- I wherein the minimum length of the sheets will be 36 inches. In regard to the sheets being conveyed to the DOWN PASS path of travel, the large radius crown of i the belt 8 when the roll 11 is in its lower position will approximately equal the natural cantilever deflection curve of the maximum thickness material to be handled.

In briefly explaining the operation of the abovedescribed apparatus let it be assumed that the sheets are to be transported first to the UP PASS path of travel. As noted before, to accomplish this the piston cylinder assembly 28 is operated to raise the roll 11 and, hence, the belt 8 to the full line position of the drawing. In this case the electromagnets 34 will not be energized so that the sheets S will pass from the belt 8 to the belt 14. The magnets 38 will urge the steel sheets against the belt 14 to assure their uninterrupted conveyance. The upward movement of the roll 11 will be accomplished without any change in the belt length, the roll movement being permitted by virtue ofthe inherent stretch of the belt 8 itself.

When it is desired to convey the sheets S to the DOWN PASS path of travel, the piston cylinder assembly 28 is operated to lower the roll 11 and the belt 8 to the phantom line position of the drawing. Prior to the leading end of the first sheet reaching the vicinity of the roll 11, the electro-magnets 34 are energized. The per manent magnets 30 will cause the sheets to hug the belt 8 and the magnets 34 will cause the progressively protruding leading end to be deflected under the protector 40 where it will follow the belt 8 to the DOWN PASS path of travel. During the deflection of the sheet the belt curvature to which the sheet must conform will never be such that the yield point of the sheet will be exceeded. For certain sheets or in certain operations the magnets 34 need not be employed since the sheets are caused to travel up the incline towards the roll 11, over the large radius of the belt 8 formed by the lower position of the roll sothat the sheets aided by their own natural deflection and without the influence of any magnetic force, will pass on to the DOWN PASS path of travel. I

From the above it will thus be appreciated that the present invention eliminates any need for providing a movable deflector gage and its attending disadvantages and instead provides a quick, inexpensive and positive arrangement for diverting the sheets.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, l have explained the principle and operation of my invention and have illustrated and described what I consider to represent the best embodiment thereof.

1 claim:

1. An apparatus for conveying moving sheets of varying thickness of flat metallic strip from a common path of travel to two different paths of travel, said sheets having natural cantilever deflection curves, comprising:

a first generally horizontal conveyor having end supporting members for arranging a portion thereof in said common path of travel and a portion thereof in one of said different paths of travel,

said first conveyor including a continuous endless yieldable belt having an outer sheet engaging side and an inner non-sheet engaging side,

a second generally horizontal conveyor arranged in said other different path of travel above said one different path of travel,

means arranged to engage the non-sheet engaging side of said belt at a point on the entry side of said two different paths of travel and approximately mid-way between its ends,

means arranged between said belt engaging means and said second conveyor and spaced from said belt engaging means separating said two different paths of travel,

means for displacing said belt engaging means in a direction towards and away from said other different path of travel in a manner to raise or lower the engaged portion of said belt to cause sheets supported by said first conveyor to be directed towards one or the other of said two paths of travel, said raised displacement of said belt being permitted by the yieldingness of said belt,

said members of said first conveyor being so arranged that in the lower position the strip supporting portion of the belt is above a plane passing through said end supporting members and in the raised position the entry portion of said first conveyor is in line with said separating means and said second conveyor,

wherein said lower position of the belt substantially equals the natural cantilever deflection curve of the maximum thickness of the sheets being conveyed, and

further wherein the natural cantilever deflection curve of the minimum thickness of the sheets allow the sheets to bridge the space between said belt engaging means when in its raised position and said means separating said two different paths of travel.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 including means for selectively urging said sheets against said belt after the sheets pass over said belt engaging means to assist in causing the sheets to be directed to said one different path of travel.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said sheet urging means comprises an electro-magnet, and

control means for selectively operating said electromagnet.

4. An apparatus according to claim 1 including means for urging said sheets against said first conveyor prior to the sheets passing over said belt engaging means, and wherein said belt engaging means includes a diverter roll,

an arm for rotatably supporting said roll,

means pivotally supporting said arm, and

means for securing said sheet urging means to said arm for movement therewith.

t. v UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION June 28, 1974 Patent No. 3 820 775 Dated Paul w. Miller Inventor(s) It 1;; certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said- Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Columnflyfline 13, claim 1, after "said" end before "members" insert belt engaging means and said and supporting Signed and sealed this 5th day of November 1974.

(SEAL) Attest:

McCOY M. GIBSON JR. Attesting Officer C. MARSHALL. DANN Commissioner of Patents USCOMM-DC 60376-P69 FORM po-wo (10-69) U S, GOVHINMENT PRINHNG OFFICE 869 930 

1. An apparatus for conveying moving sheets of varying thickness of flat metallic strip from a common path of travel to two different paths of travel, said sheets having natural cantilever deflection curves, comprising: a first generally horizontal conveyor having end supporting members for arranging a portion thereof in said common path of travel and a portion thereof in one of said different paths of travel, said first conveyor including a continuous endless yieldable belt having an outer sheet engaging side and an inner non-sheet engaging side, a second generally horizontal conveyor arranged in said other different path of travel above said one different path of travel, means arranged to engage the non-sheet engaging side of said belt at a point on the entry side of said two different paths of travel and approximately mid-way between its ends, means arranged between said belt engaging means and said second conveyor and spaced from said belt engaging means separating said two different paths of travel, means for displacing said belt engaging means in a direction towards and away from said other different path of travel in a manner to raise or lower the engaged portion of said belt to cause sheets supported by said first conveyor to be directed towards one or the other of said two paths of travel, said raised displacement of said belt being permitted by the yieldingness of said belt, said members of said first conveyor being so arranged that in the lower position the strip supporting portion of the belt is above a plane passing through said end supporting members and in the raised position the entry portion of said first conveyor is in line with said separating means and said second conveyor, wherein said lower position of the belt substantially equals the natural cantilever deflection curve of the maximum thickness of the sheets being conveyed, and further wherein the natural cantilever deflection curve of the minimum thickness of the sheets allow the sheets to bridge the space between said belt engaging means when in its raised position and said means separating said two different paths of travel.
 2. An apparatus according to claim 1 including means for selectively urging said sheets against said belt after the sheets pass over said belt eNgaging means to assist in causing the sheets to be directed to said one different path of travel.
 3. An apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said sheet urging means comprises an electro-magnet, and control means for selectively operating said electro-magnet.
 4. An apparatus according to claim 1 including means for urging said sheets against said first conveyor prior to the sheets passing over said belt engaging means, and wherein said belt engaging means includes a diverter roll, an arm for rotatably supporting said roll, means pivotally supporting said arm, and means for securing said sheet urging means to said arm for movement therewith. 